Performance
Comparison of a Hybrid Dual-Tuned 23Na/1H Birdcage to a
Single-Tuned 23Na Birdcage with Identical Geometry

1Department of Electrical &
Computer Engineering, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States; 2Department
of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States; 3Department
of Radiology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States; 4Department
of Physics, Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, United States; 5Department
of Physics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, United States

Recent
improvements in MRI sequences and hardware have renewed interest in sodium
MRI.Dual-tuned coils are highly
desirable to allow inclusion of a sodium exam during a standard proton scan
without moving the patient, and to allow accurate registration of sodium and
proton images.Unfortunately, many
dual-tuned coil configurations come with a significant penalty in SNR performance.In this work, we evaluate the sodium SNR
performance penalty and B1 homogeneity associated with a hybrid low-pass
sodium, high-pass hydrogen dual-resonant birdcage design.We show that the addition of the high-pass
hydrogen structure has a negligible effect on both sodium SNR performance and
B1 homogeneity.